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Canada sending 500 observers to monitor Ukraine election

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney says "anyone who suggests there is any parallel between the Canadian electoral system and the current situation in Ukraine has a deeply distorted perception of reality.”
(Sean Kilpatrick / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

By Stephanie FindlayStaff reporter

Thu., Aug. 9, 2012

Even as the Conservative party appeals a court ruling that last year’s federal election in Etobicoke Centre was tainted, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney and Conservative MP Ted Opitz are sending Canadians to act as electoral watch guards during Ukraine’s upcoming parliamentary elections.

Speaking at a Ukrainian cultural centre less than a kilometre from Etobicoke Centre — the riding where Opitz won by 26 votes in 2011 — Kenney said Canada will help Ukraine meet its objectives of “transparency and more accountable government.”

Former Liberal MP Borys Wrzesnewskyj thinks the location of the announcement is peculiar.

“It’s quite ironic that they would choose Etobicoke,” said Wrzesnewskyj, who challenged Opitz’s win, alleging that clerical errors made by Elections Canada meant some of the ballots shouldn’t have been counted.

“Of course it wasn’t lost on me why they would do this in Etobicoke,” said Wrzesnewskyj, “they are trying to create good PR here. They are desperately trying to create good PR.”

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When asked if he found the location ironic, Kenney bristled. “I don’t accept the premise of the question,” he said.

“I think anyone who suggests there is any parallel between the Canadian electoral system and the current situation in Ukraine has a deeply distorted perception of reality.”

Opitz was quick to point out the announcement was not being made in his jurisdiction.

“Why not in this riding? We’re physically standing in Etobicoke Lakeshore right now,” he said.

“This is where Ignatieff lost to Bernard Trottier. This is not where the Liberal lost to Opitz,” said Roman Gawur, Opitz’s former campaign manager, referring to Wrzesnewskyj.

Opitz went to the Supreme Court of Canada to appeal a lower court ruling throwing out his 26-vote victory in Etobicoke Centre.

Judge Thomas Lederer of the Ontario Superior Court ruled 79 ballots were invalid because of polling station irregularities and ordered a by-election in the riding.

The opposition and Elections Canada argue Canada’s democratic credibility is in question as a result of the botched votes.

Still, Orest Steciw, a representative of the League of Ukrainian Canadians, believes the emphasis should be on Canadian ideals.

“The Ukrainian diasporas in Canada want Ukrainians to have the Canadian values we have,” said Steciw, “values as you well know are democratic rules of governance and human rights.”

There are 1.2 million Canadians with Ukrainian origins, according to the Government of Canada. Canadian election observers have helped ensure “free and fair” Ukrainian presidential elections since the Orange Revolution in 2004, an uprising caused by what many believed to be a fraudulent election.

The new deployment of election observers will monitor approximately 6 per cent of Ukraine’s 33,540 polling stations.

“The Harper Government is committed to promoting human rights and democracy around the world,” Parliamentary Secretary Bob Dechert said in a press release.

Larry Faseruk, an Elections Canada employee who worked in Etobicoke Lakeshore, an adjacent riding to Etobicoke Centre, said his faith in Canada’s electoral system hasn’t been lost, though it has been shaken.

“I thought they (Canadian elections) were fair, open and well run,” said Faseruk. “I still think they are fair, open and well run, except for the problems before the court.”

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